For simplification purposes, we'll call it the J.R. Smith/Al Harrington position. It is a big-time reserve perimeter scorer, 14 to 16 points a night off the bench, with an accent on long-range points.The Nuggets had it once. They are searching for it again.Nuggets coach George Karl likes his bench well enough. Ask him about punch from the pine and he'll say he likes Andre Mille...

I think karl needs to give up on his second unite they give up way to much ground in games. Whenever Mcgee goes onto the court we start to give up a lead or take ourselves out of the game all together. karl needs to understand Hamilton is a 2nd year player who needs playing time to develop and grow. Personally i think karl is just going to screw this up like he screwed up Jr smith. The players start worried way to much about if they make a mistake if they are going to be benched for the next week. Brewer is a good player but karl thinks to highly of him. He is a solid player, but hamilton should be getting more of those mins. Also I think Milller should get the start over lawson, until he proves he is the better point. The Mcgee experiment has failed. This guy is just not producing in fact if anything he has regressed.

This team may be lacking that leadership quality that they traded away. Case in point here:

"Arron Afflalo scored 30 points, Glen Davis added 23 points and 12 rebounds, and the Magic beat Howard's Lakers in their first game against their longtime center, 113-103 on Sunday night."

It is the trade off for making the trade. It isn't always the best thing to do, it is a gamble. The team could suffer for a long time and by the time they improve enough for the fans to like them, well then they will trade again.

I still think the team will improve but, they need to bring on more tools. Or at least give the ones they already have a chance.

Yeah, the trades last year haven't panned out. So they'll have to get max performance out of who they have. So far it's lacking. What's going to change it? I'm afraid nothing, which will lead to a .500 season unless some of the players turn into Supermen. Who's the 30 point game player? No one. It's rare with this team. Back to the draft/trade board Nug's brass, and get it right, or watch the team lose - frequently.

Every season I read an article about the Nuggets struggles with perimeter shooting. George Karl's offense doesn't lend itself to good perimeter shooting. We've changed players, brought in good shooters, but inevitably we struggle with outside shots. His one-on-one, dribble drive, get to the line or kick out for a shot offense doesn't provide for consistent shooting for a number of reasons. First, it doesn't provide a rhythm for shooters like coming off a screen or swing passing will do. Second, it destroys confidence when you force players to self-create a shot off the dribble in a crowed lane. It's hard enough to finish one-on-one, but against a packed lane- it's impossible. So players like Lawson and Gallo drive into the trees and end up throwing garbage toward the rim hoping for a call. That will kill a shooter's stroke. So, until the Nuggets get someone to coach an offense, they won't shoot well.

KCharles wrote:Every season I read an article about the Nuggets struggles with perimeter shooting. George Karl's offense doesn't lend itself to good perimeter shooting. We've changed players, brought in good shooters, but inevitably we struggle with outside shots. His one-on-one, dribble drive, get to the line or kick out for a shot offense doesn't provide for consistent shooting for a number of reasons. First, it doesn't provide a rhythm for shooters like coming off a screen or swing passing will do. Second, it destroys confidence when you force players to self-create a shot off the dribble in a crowed lane. It's hard enough to finish one-on-one, but against a packed lane- it's impossible. So players like Lawson and Gallo drive into the trees and end up throwing garbage toward the rim hoping for a call. That will kill a shooter's stroke. So, until the Nuggets get someone to coach an offense, they won't shoot well.

The poor shooting has nothing to do with Karl or his system. Melo, Chauncey, JR, Afflalo, and Harrington, to name just a few, have played in Karl's system and shot the ball at a very high level both in terms of points scored and percentages. The real issue is that none of the names I just mentioned are still on the team. They've been replaced by Gallo, Lawson, etc, i.e., guys that are not gifted perimeter shooters. The system remains the same but the perimeter shooting talent has diminished considerably.

You describe Karl's system pretty accurately, but plug some gifted perimeter shooters in and our offense would be off the the races--literally and figuratively--again. Ty and Gallo try to penetrate into a thicket of players in the paint because teams don't have to respect us on the perimeter.

GK's is not a good coach to develop talent. Sorry to say coach but you are squandering the guys that have been assembled. When the spacing is bad your drive and kick game just turns into the kick game when the paint is clogged. 3 guys that could have help this team without big contracts. Jamal Crawford, OJ Mayo and Ryan Anderson.

Also the energy guy Brewer does not need to take outside shots and he is out of control when driving to the middle. He is not a good defensive player.

But the thing that bothers me most is are the picks that are not being set and Ty picking up the ball too early in the possession's. He just isn't a threat when he isn't aggressive.

Another thing, GK promoted defense. Well the defense looks as porous or even worse than it did last year.

I have to question these comments, you all should be fired from commenting. Tell me exactly what has Al Harrington done for the Magic this year? Nothing. Iguodala is clearly a better player than Afflalo. Not only that, but what did we give up to aquire afflalo and Al Harrington? Nothing. And we got a bonafide allstar in return. Fact is Hamilton should be getting Harrington's last year minutes. I think if you want to criticize coach Karl he's made himself fair game, but the Nuggets brass has come through time and time again with good aquisitions. What has Nene done this year? Nothing. So maybe the commenters will at least pay attention to reality when they comment from now on, I sure hope so. Mcgee, Gallinari, Lawson, Faried, Hamilton, Fournier, Koufos, Mozgov, Brewer, Iguodala, and Randolph will only get better from here. As far as benching Lawson, yeah just what you want do with a young guy struggling with the worst shooting slump of his pro career, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

L sider wrote:I have to question these comments, you all should be fired from commenting. Tell me exactly what has Al Harrington done for the Magic this year? Nothing. Iguodala is clearly a better player than Afflalo. Not only that, but what did we give up to aquire afflalo and Al Harrington? Nothing. And we got a bonafide allstar in return. Fact is Hamilton should be getting Harrington's last year minutes. I think if you want to criticize coach Karl he's made himself fair game, but the Nuggets brass has come through time and time again with good aquisitions. What has Nene done this year? Nothing. So maybe the commenters will at least pay attention to reality when they comment from now on, I sure hope so. Mcgee, Gallinari, Lawson, Faried, Hamilton, Fournier, Koufos, Mozgov, Brewer, Iguodala, and Randolph will only get better from here. As far as benching Lawson, yeah just what you want do with a young guy struggling with the worst shooting slump of his pro career, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Oh, please, Masai and Josh :^). You seem to know something about the game. Maybe you were tired when you posted. You don't have to get all defensive.

The issue here in this specific thread isn't what Harrington is doing for the Magic or whether Iggy is overall a better player than Afflalo.

I think we were discussing the lack of skillful perimeter shooters on the Nuggets and how that affects this year's team. Those of us that cited past skillful shooters on past Nuggets teams understand we can't have all those players on the current roster. I could have referenced Alex English and Kiki V to make the same point.

The point, Masai and Josh, is that we don't have current players that can shoot consistently from the perimeter. No way you can win in the NBA, no matter what the system, if you don't have skilled shooters. Look at our free throw numbers and figure it out.

Harrington was that guy last season. At 14.2 points per game and a credible threat from the 3-point line, he played so well that he put himself in the conversation for the sixth man of the year award. For all of his headaches he gave Karl, Smith averaged nearly 14 points per game over two seasons, 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. On many nights he was downright deadly from 3-point range.

Yep. Both JR and Al are great catch and shoot players from the outside, they can create their own shots and spread the floor. If Jordan can improve in those areas, he would be money from beyond the arc, and get consistent PT.

Right now, with such erratic play from the team as a whole, GK subs players every 3 or 4 minutes it seems, not enough time to warm up and get their shots off effectively.

I always thought it was a mistake to give up on JR Smith. There are plenty of guys around the league who aren't easy to work with but other coaches seem to figure it out. Karl has the team he wanted I guess. They all get along with George's giant ego while the record hovers around .500.

Ujiri shares the blame. He's supposed to be the GM isn't he? He made one move during the offseason. There were plenty of shooters avaialable to make up for the loss of Al and AA. Meanwhile the Lakers, Clippers and Thunder added all kinds of firepower.

CaliBroncfan wrote:I always thought it was a mistake to give up on JR Smith. There are plenty of guys around the league who aren't easy to work with but other coaches seem to figure it out. Karl has the team he wanted I guess. They all get along with George's giant ego while the record hovers around .500.

Ujiri shares the blame. He's supposed to be the GM isn't he? He made one move during the offseason. There were plenty of shooters avaialable to make up for the loss of Al and AA. Meanwhile the Lakers, Clippers and Thunder added all kinds of firepower.

Mark, those other coaches? Yeh, they figured it out quickly.

I have ragged on Gk for the past 3 yrs, and some are finally figuring it out this yr. [Go toward the shining beacon light y a'll...]

I mean, I'll give the truth. JR is a bench player, he doesnt know how to be a starter, but he has so much progressed this yr, yet still bickering with his coach bout being a bench player. Some just gotta understand that being a bench or role player is your best fit at this time. I love JR, but I just dont know if he will get it being on the team hes on.

"Jordan is playing well. Evan is playing well," Karl said. "I think people will be surprised by how many minutes they get by the end of the year."

No s**t!! I think we would all be surprised if anything logical were done. It's like in the Toronto game when your up by 19. Put in some guys with less playing time to get experience and give your regulars some rest. GK sucks!